Dropcase Games, the earliest coin-operated payout machines with the simplest mechanism, used the coin as projectile and its potential energy due to gravity as motive force. Pins randomised the fall towards win, lose or return receptacles. Coins were either dropped from the top, shunted by lever or hand from the side, or fired upwards with a sprung trigger. First they paid cigars, tokens or tickets; more generous payouts and jackpots were offered by later versions. Self-proclaimed 'games of skill', players were required to aim the coin. What occurred next was up for debate.

With its understated Art Deco appearance, this classic '30s over-sized wall machine remained popular into the 1960s. This was due in part, no doubt, to the ingenious way it hides its profiteering from the player. A win is obtained by using the faceted wheel to propel a coin into a full column, whereupon all those coins are delivered to the player. As the plaque says, "all coins which fall into the columns below will eventually be returned to the players". It would appear that you cannot lose. However, the coin that triggers the win falls to the machine's coffer, so it makes its profit the moment you make yours (when you're least likely to notice or care). Yellow columns paid 4, blue paid 5 and red 6. Many operators considered this scheme too generous and converted the centre column to lose. The layout of the pins makes every other column almost impossible to reach.

Insert a halfpenny in the slot and try to shoot the marble into the centre pocket using the trigger on the right. If successful, turn the handle on the left to receive a cigar or cheque. Haydon & Urry made two other variants of this game: The Colonial Shooting Range and the Rotary Shooting Range.

Operates on halfpenny play and is a coin launch machine. The coin rolls down the switchback from the coin entry (top, left) and if the player does nothing, it returns through the front slot. The object is to retract the end track (by pressing the trigger on the right) as the coin rolls over it, attempting to drop it into the fifth channel. If successful, a token is paid to be redeemed for a cigar or 'goods to twice the value of the coin inserted'. A coin in first, third and last channel is returned. The patent for this machine is GB190023312

A deceptively simple game that invites the player to shoot a penny into the fisherman's bag, using the trigger on the right. If successful, the fisherman's entire 'catch' is dumped to the payout cup. This can range from one to six coins. The instructions inform players of an unusual feature, "If not successful after 12 tries, the bag will automatically open". Coins which miss the bag are directed in turn to the jackpot and the cashbox by a simple but reliable alternating gate. Construction of this diminutive machine is basic but effective, and the use of up-cycled ammunition crates suggests an immediate post war date of manufacture. The Stevenson and Lovett attribution is tentative and based upon similarities with other machines from that maker.

Several versions of this 'over the barrels' game were made in Britain and France from the 1900s to the 1930s. The player's coin is launched over the barrels by a sprung trigger on the right of the case. If the coin drops into barrels 10, 20 or 30, it is returned; if it falls into barrel 50, it releases a catch, allowing the player to extract a '2D cigar' by pulling the knob on the left. Patents GB190019196 & GB189421756